Cultures of Listening

Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL)
Keene State College
Spring Semester 2018
Instructor: Dr. Martin Roberts
Class: Friday 10:00-11:15 a.m.
Location: Morrison Hall 109
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Overview

How do we listen to music today? How is that different from how people listened to it a decade ago? A generation ago? A century ago? Why listen to music at all? This course provides an introduction to how to listen to music, and sound more generally, in a digital age of playlists and short attention spans. Rather than a traditional music-appreciation course, however, it focuses on listening itself as a cultural practice of the modern age. Topics include easy listening, hi-fi, and stereo in 1950s suburbia; jukeboxes and the rise of popular music; multitrack recording and headphone music in the 60s; portable listening from the Sony Walkman to the Apple iPod; elevator music, and ubiquitous listening; field recording and acoustic ecology; audiophile culture and the vinyl revival; streaming media and the playlist. Each class will be structured around relevant reading materials and a collective listening session and discussion. The course’s objective is to develop an understanding of listening as a deeply cultural practice, and to teach us to listen more attentively to the sounds of the world around us.

Instructor Bio

Dr. Martin Roberts holds a Ph. D. in French Studies from Cambridge University. He has taught at Harvard University, MIT, The New School, and NYU, and is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies at Dartmouth College. He has published essays on world music, and his courses on music include Music as Communication and BeatleMedia: Popular Music and Cultural Heritage.

Reading Assignments

Readings are either available online or as PDF files for download and printing: see links below.

Resources

YouTube playlist

Schedule

Date Topic Read Listen/Watch
W1
Fri 9 March 2018 Field Recordings
W2
Fri 16 March 2018 Deep Listening: Soundscapes & Acoustic Ecology
  • Deep Listening Band, The Ready Made Boomerang
W3
Fri 23 March 2018 Background Music: Easy Listening and Muzak
  • Audio Fidelity Stereo Spectacular Demonstration and Sound Effects (1962)
W4
Fri 30 March 2018 Strange Sounds: Electronic Listening
W5
Fri 6 April 2018 Music for Airports: Ubiquitous Listening
  • Geeta Dayal, excerpts from Another Green World
  • Brian Eno, Music For Airports

  • Jake Tilson, Gate 63 (in class)

  • Easy Jet, Jet Sounds (iTunes)

W6
Fri 13 April 2018 Listening In: Eavesdropping
  • Scanner (Robin Rimbaud): various recordings tba

  • The Ghost Orchid (EVP compilation)

W7
Fri 20 April 2018 Headspace: Listening over Headphones
  • Damon Krukowski, “Headspace” (in The New Analog)

  • Shuhei Hosokawa, “The Walkman Effect”

  • Michael Bull, “Investigating the Culture of Mobile Listening”

  • Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon
W8
Fri 27 April 2018 Analog Listening in the Digital Age
  • Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder, seelcted chs. from Designed For Hi-Fi Living

  • Ben Ratlif, selected chs. from Every Song Ever